God Has Thoughts For You

Growing in Jesus is awesome. I find that I am often encouraged because I have been given a new and brighter view of life by Holy Spirit. The newness and brightness comes because I see that view in the light of Jesus.

Lately I have been pondering the reality that God thinks about me, about each one of us. The Bible makes it plain, over and over again, that God, who we know as Father, who has the whole Universe and billions of people to manage, thinks about me (and you) so often that David said His thoughts "would outnumber the grains of sand" (Psalm 139:18). I am able to share in King David's delight as he wrote his psalms, in knowing how God was thinking about him.
 
"Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; there is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, they would be too numerous to count" (Psalm 40:5 NASB).
 
"How precious concerning me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand .." (Psalm 139:17-18).
 
I am writing this at our favourite camp site by the sea in our Southwest. Soon I will walk along the shore as the sun goes down, I will come away with sand all over my feet and will be thinking about God's thoughts. Just on my feet will he hundreds and hundreds of grains; how many are there on this one shore? O Lord Jesus, how wonderful!
 
This is inspiring to me, very affirming. Somehow I am assured that I belong, that I should be here, right where I am. And also that I am heading in Jesus' right direction for me, towards the ".. knowledge of the Son of God, becoming mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).
 
God Himself has thoughts about me, about you. Many English Bible translations use the word "plans", and the Amplified who want to be truly clear, says "thoughts and plans". God's thoughts are continuous since before we were born (Galatians 1:15). I am only just recognising this. His thoughts concerning me are not angry or judgmental thoughts about the rotten things I have done. No, He has forgiven those and they are now "behind His back" and "as far as the East is from the West away from Him".
 

"'For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope'" (Jeremiah 29:11).
 
This is very good news. This means that all the other "not good" thoughts which come to my mind are being placed there by someone who is not God; that "someone" can only be Satan so I can immediately cast them off (2 Corinthians 10:5).
 
All this helps me to understand how God is .. He throws His shadow over us, each one, His covering, His tent, His care and thoughts and plans.
 
God is For Everybody: Even as we pray for and care for one another we are sharing in the thoughts God has for those people. We may think of the people of Israel at this time as they are being attacked by Hamas. But even more, God's thoughts are for all the billions of people in the world, each one separately. His thoughts may be for every Israeli but at the same time God has thoughts and plans for us, and for each of the Hamas militants and those supporting them, morally, spiritually or financially.
 
God's Bigness: For months I have been pondering how big God is; times like this help me see that His bigness is beyond imagining and is simply awesome, (also, they help me to know "fear of the Lord"). When we get a touch from God, when something supernatural happens which we know can only have come from Him, we know that at that very moment He is especially thinking of us. Then we realise that He will have had many thoughts for us leading up to this moment; he hasn't just helicoptered in to help now and then will fly off to help someone else. No, Jesus assures His people that He is "with you always" (Matthew 28:20), with everyone, all the time, awesome!
 
The Lord's Prayer: Now is a time when people are remembering the Lord's Prayer, I am encountering this everywhere I go. This is a collective prayer, and also Jesus teaching each one of us to pray to "Our Father". We call out to our Abba Daddy to "give us this day our daily bread", asking Him to think of us and everything we need to sustain us, "spirit, soul and body" (1 Thessalonians 5:23) as He has covenanted to do (Luke 12:22-34). The Lord's Prayer is for everybody on Planet Earth, because Father God is Father to us all, even unbelievers; He created us, each one, for His own purposes, even when we are wandering in a wilderness away from His path (Luke 1:79).
 
God's Spiritual Gifts To Help Us: Jesus wants us to share in His work on the Earth. This is spiritual work; He gives us spiritual gifts.
 
Note: You may have been taught that the spiritual gifts described in the Bible are not for today but were only for the apostolic age while the church was being formed. I have studied this teaching and find it wanting. What I find clearly stated in Scripture is this: Jesus helped many during His three ministry years on the Earth. He performed all kinds of miracles for all kinds of people as He saw our Father leading. After being crucified and rising from death Jesus told His people, (not just the disciples and later Paul), that He would soon leave them to be with our Father in Heaven and that He would send another "helper", "advocate", "comforter", God's Holy Spirit (John 14:15), to empower the believers so that they could carry on His work here and even do "greater works" than He had done (John 14:12). We are to "go into all the world" (Matthew 28:19-20) and do this, having "rivers of living water" (John 7:38) flowing from us to bring "salt" and "light" to others (Matthew 5:13-14). My understanding is that the "greater works" are possible because we are many millions in number and can minister in countless places to vast numbers of people at the same time; Jesus, in His humanity, was only at one place at any time. (See 1 Corinthians chapters 12 and 14, Hebrews 2:4 and more).
 

Here is a lovely testimony:
 
For a long time, my wife Trish and I studied under a couple who taught Jesus' spiritual gift of prophecy (1 Corinthians 12:10; 14:1,3). We were taught to listen with our spiritual ears (and an open heart), and to hear God speaking, sometimes for ourselves and more often to "strengthen, encourage and comfort" other people (1 Corinthians 14:3). The teaching couple had seen that the prophetic gifting is a theme in the Bible, but not often seen among Jesus' people in our city in our time. They sought out teaching for themselves, being careful to choose teachers whose theology and lives were clearly Bible based and centred on Jesus. The prophetic is a Holy Spirit gift, and Holy Spirit always reveals Jesus.
 
We were called the Eagle School Of The Prophetic and we all grew over those years; we saw miracles as Jesus' love and life were imparted to a great many people.
 
For several years one lively local church would hold a week of tent meetings by the river in the centre of our city. Besides the big marquee tent there were smaller ministry tents, one was for prayer for healing, another for tea, coffee and cool drinks, (we would bring home-made muffins and scones to go with people's cuppa), another may hold helpful Christian resources, mostly to be given away. Our tent was for people to come and hear what God had to say to them, their own personal word from Jesus. Trish and I were part of this ministry. We saw miracles, we saw Paul's words come to life: ".. our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction" (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
 
One man came to us who was a surprise; he was clearly very well off, his bike would have cost thousands and his Lycra and sunglasses hundreds more. He was not Christian and told us that he did not know why he had come to our tent. We were in small teams. Sometimes the person coming to us would share their story but often they would not know what to say or to ask. This man was quiet. We all sat for a few minutes then the person whose turn it was to pray prayed a simple prayer asking Jesus to let this man know His word for him. After a brief silence one of us spoke and drew a clear word picture, then the next spoke a different picture, then the last of our trio, once again, spoke a third different picture. Immediately I saw that all three pictures for this man contained the same message: the man was much admired and had great worldly success but his personal life and his relationships were empty; all the precious things of life seemed to have passed him by; Jesus knows and understands isolation and loneliness and was ready to come alongside this man and bring him into His life and His family of believers.
 
The man cried, great deep sobs. It was so good to hug him, here was new life. This man now knew that he was in God's thoughts and His love. We passed him on to another person who was gifted in presenting Jesus' gospel and suggesting ways that people can find a suitable local church. That man left our tent with a much lighter step than when he arrived. Jesus had been love and salt and light to him by using us (Matthew 5:13-14; John 7:38).
 

That man had told us that he did not know why he had come to our tent. I believe that our Father sent him there so that He could "reveal His thoughts" to Him (Amos 4:13), and begin to give him a "full life" (John 10:10).
 
We often saw tears it that tent, and in the many other times we ministered Jesus in this way, we also saw great joy as people heard the thoughts God had for them; God was waiting until the person inclined their ear and was ready to hear. We were simply Jesus' servants. Every Christian can see Jesus at work in this way: ".. with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction". We were, and still are, available, we have learned from the Bible and the vast Christian literature, we listen and obey. This is very satisfying work (Ephesians 2:10), bringing God's thoughts to our neighbours and our brothers and sisters (John 13:34; Romans 13:8; Galatians 6:2).
 
Recently I was in a devotion with friends. One of us began by saying "God is truly relational", (she is a very relational person, thoughtful, kind and a great mixer). We all nodded our heads, "yes, we see the same thing" we seemed to be saying, "we all see this in our Jesus". I find it hard to make friends, even to mix in a crowd of strangers is so difficult; I see myself as being shy but also as trying to be helpful and to show Jesus' generous heart that He has given me. So I am excited about the "thoughts" verses I have been finding in my Bible; God's thoughts for us are completely part of who He is and who we are in relationship with Him. God created the Creation so that He could be relational towards something "other" and share His glory (Jude 1:24). That "other" is us, people, humankind.
 
All this encourages me to keep going, to keep walking in Jesus and continue in fellowship with His people. "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving" (Colossians 2:6-7 ).
 
Eternally God "is", He calls Himself "I AM" (Exodus 3:14). Father, Son and Holy Spirit are eternally loving, giving, sharing. This relationship within the Godhead is so special it has its own name, "perichoresis". Now God includes us in His love and thoughts. We are "born again" (1 Peter 1:23) into Jesus and His church where we learn to get along together, to "one another" one another, "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).
 
Amen.
 
Favourite Bible Verses
 

"He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals His thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth - the Lord God of Hosts is his name" (Amos 4:13).
 
"May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word" (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17).

 
"See to it that no one takes you captive by hollow philosophy and vain deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8).
 
"We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).
 
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body - whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink" (1 Corinthians 12:4-13).
 
"Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.  For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.  But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort" (1 Corinthians 14:1-3).
 
Hallelujah! Praise Jesus!
 
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What Are You Feeling?

The Dreaded Question
 

"What are you feeling?" These words were spoken by our Counseling teacher to each of the students in my Bible College class. In almost every lecture she would go round the class and stop in front of each of us and ask the dreaded question "John, what are you feeling?" I would sit there terrified. I had no idea what I was feeling and, truth be told, I did not want to know.
 
This went of for weeks and eventually we all loosened up. I know that I grew greatly from this teaching. I can now recognise and evaluate my feelings; from this I can respond, take action, cope. Also, it helps me work out appropriate boundaries.
 
Jesus Is Here To Help
 
We all have feelings all the time. As the circumstances of our lives change so do our feelings. But mostly there are many things going on in our life, each with its own set of feelings. Does this make a mixed stew of feelings, emotions and pressures within us? Yes, often.
 
What then happens? Either we blow up. Or we shut down .. Unless we are able to identify and manage all these emotions.
 
Definition: "manage": to handle or direct with a degree of skill.
 
Our inner life becomes more critical to us as our world and our life-in-the-world become more complicated, more challenged. Thankfully Jesus is here to help; He makes available skills which we can learn:
 
"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
 
"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).
 
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes" (Ephesians 6:11).
 
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).
 
"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts - and be thankful" (Colossians 3:15).
 

In those Bible College classes I got a better understanding of what psychology and counseling hope to achieve, and also that most of those working in these fields truly want to help confused and hurt people. But even more I learned that our Creator God has designed and "fearfully made" us in "His image and likeness" (Psalms 139:14; Genesis 1:26) and that by "following His ways" (1 Peter 1:2) we will be able to live rich, "full" lives (John 10:10) in the world in our place and time.
 
"You have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance" (1 Peter 1:2).
 
Feelings and emotions are part of life. In the 1700s J.S. Bach, who loved Jesus and wrote rich Christian music, described many of his fellow churchgoers as "careless, muddled spirits".
 
In our own modern societies, depression, anxiety and stress are epidemic.
 
Many doctors agree that a majority of patients in hospitals are there for psycho-somatic reasons. Commonly experienced negative feelings are now referred to in the medical field as "toxic thinking patterns" because they are known to cause disease; people get sick if they have not learned to deal with the emotional part of their life.
 
Anger
 
Have you noticed? Practically everybody is angry - there are so many causes - everybody can give you ten good reasons to be angry. We have to learn to live with all of them, and also to manage our anger.
 
We are:
• Angry at fast rising prices
• Angry at proven lies from governments and other leaders
• Angry at the damage to our children from school curriculums and screen time
• Angry at unreliable and uncertain financial systems
• Angry that there are cameras everywhere
• Angry at all the advertisements everywhere
• Angry at supply chain problems
• Angry at threats of more pandemics
• Angry at threats of world wars
• Angry at the traffic.
 
In particular I am shocked and angry at our seeming powerlessness before the shrinking of democracy. Our Western governments used to serve the people; this is the core of democratic rule, that the people are always more important than the government and no government person or law is more important or powerful than any citizen. Now our governments seem to follow their own ideologies without our agreement and are making us into fearful compliant servants.
 
Unforgiveness
 

Unforgiveness is also a big problem for many. Unforgiveness breeds bitterness in the one who was hurt. The person who caused the pain is often unaware of the continuing anguish and is going on with his or her life. Bitterness is a slow poison and can cripple a person; they still feel the pain of the offence and also feel anger that the offender has not been held to account. This may all be true, but our heavenly Father wants us to forgive so that we can go on.
 
Our need to forgive is important to God, it is front and centre in Jesus' teaching. Forgiveness lifts us over the barriers between our self and a righteous relationship with God.
 
Jesus taught us to pray to Our Father: "Forgive us our sins, as we also forgive those who sin against us" (Matthew 6:12).
 
He said: "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14-15).
 
Woken By Jesus
 
This morning (my last for this time camping by the sea) I awoke at 4 o'clock singing this song in my heart. My felt emotion was joy:
 
Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return,
And come with singing unto Zion;
And everlasting joy shall be upon their head.
 
They shall obtain gladness and joy;
And sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
 
Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return,
And come with singing unto Zion;
And everlasting joy shall be upon their head.

(Ruth Lake, from Isaiah 51:11 KJV).

 
Remember, Jesus is here to help us. He gives us His peace (John 14:27).
 

We are "the redeemed of God" (Gal 3:13), we have been "ransomed from sin" (1 Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 5:9), "bought for a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and "set free" (Acts 13:39).
 
We are "children" (1 John 3:1) of Jesus' "New Covenant" (2 Corinthians 3:6). Israel understood their Covenant as "hesed", which in English is "lovingkindness" (175 times in the NASB) or "abounding in love" or "everlasting love".

Our New Covenant will last forever and it is always for us. God undertakes to care for us (Luke 12:22-32). We can be encouraged (Hebrews 6:18). Jesus and our Father God are bigger than the world and its troubles (Psalm 8:3–4; Luke 12:7), and our future is more wonderful than the politicians or business tycoons can imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
 
Cleaving To Jesus
 
Jesus wants us to "cleave" (cling, hold tight), to Him always; this is confirmed by many Bible writers (John 12:26, 15:1-17; Acts 11:23; Hebrews 10:39). I often remember Matthew's last thought from his Gospel, Jesus assurance: "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20) - and so many Psalms! Jesus is right here with us, right now! In every event in our life, He has been present; Jesus is here to redeem us from everything. He will lift our spirits and bring His joy and peace as He did for the eight of the Apostles who died as Martyrs, and for so many since then. Dietrich Bonheoffer was hanged in the closing days of WWII. Bonheoffer said: "Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you your life", he knew this to be true because he lived it.
 
Jesus told His disciples: "the one who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13). I believe this may be one of our Saviour’s most profound commands to us.
 
New Testament writers use powerful language when encouraging us to keep a close relationship with Jesus, the Amplified Bible translates this as "cleave" 16 times. Those verses are among my favourites, I am encouraged and I do cleave. There are times when I hang on to Jesus with everything I have .. He always responds with love and reassurance. For such devotion to Jesus we need a clear mind (2 Timothy 1:7) and a clear heart (Psalms 24:4).
 
We are not a product of our past. Often it is past events which fuel our negative feelings and emotions. As Christians we are a product of Jesus and His completed work, "a new creation" in Jesus:
 
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
 
".. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it .." (Colossians 3:9-10 Message).
 
"What Am I Feeling?"
 

"What am I feeling?" We can ask our self this question and then look to Jesus for His clarity and help.
 
One of the first Bible verses our children learned at Sunday School - then often spoke around our house: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
 
Remember Paul's words as he ends his letter to the Ephesians: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Ephesians 6:12-13).
 
We are alive in Jesus, spirit to Spirit with Him, we can stand, we can be strong and courageous, we can live life to the full. So lovely.
 
Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
 
Favourite Bible Verses
 
Our Father speaking to us about Jesus: ".. Listen to him!" (Matthew 17:5).
 
"He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are doing" (1 Thessalonians 5:10-11).
 
Nehemiah praying to God about his people: "They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them .. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them" (Nehemiah 9:17).
 
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 5:6-11).
 
Jesus is with us. Hallelujah. Amen.
 
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Husbands, Love Your Wives

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25).

"Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them" (Colossians 3:19).

Many may say "what a strange thing to talk about .. of course I love my wife, it is natural, it is why I married her".

My wife is Trish; we are long married, and the years have rolled by. Trish and I have had to face many difficulties, together and separately. Children have come along, bringing great blessings and also many complications. And there is our work, mine and hers, within and outside of our home, and also our extended family and sport and our other strong interests.

We grow and are not the same as when we were courting and newly wed. Love is different now. Isn't this true? Isn't your life together different?

"Husbands, love your wives" said Paul. The words are clear; they were written to the whole church at Ephesus and also at Colossae; Paul will have seen things which prompted him to share this thought with both groups.

I see Paul as the great discipler, he shows us who we are in Jesus - see the early chapters of Ephesians and Colossians. Then, to complete those letters, he teaches us how to grow in Jesus to realise our potential as human beings, as Christians (Ephesians 4:12-13) and as ambassadors for Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:20), and so that we can to bring salt and light (Matthew 5:13-14) to our generation (Philippians 2:15).

Like Paul I have seen things. Trish and I were "fine"; we now have grown-up children, and grandchildren too. But, truth be told, things were only mostly fine, other times there was friction and dissatisfaction.

Oscar Wilde said that bigamy is when a man has too many wives, and that having just one wife is very much the same .. In the Western democracies statistics suggest that about half of all married people feel as Oscar Wilde did.

Was I heading along the path to be another statistic? I don't know. Trish is likely strong enough that she would have kept us together regardless of any foolishness I did, like running off to live alone. I never stopped loving Trish. What we have is precious, as it was when I fell in love across a room. I think that it just became a bit patchy.

Thankfully I met two men for whom these Scripture verses have come alive, men who are now my friends, who have actively responded to this godly command and have the most beautiful testimonies. Each of them, and I, have different stories, but the glorious joy and richness we have found is the same.

Testimony: My Two Friends, And Now Me Also

Here is my wife, this person whom God gave to me, (and I truly believe this: my wife Trish was chosen for me and given to me by our loving Father God). Sometimes we became uncomfortable, at those times we seemed to no longer belong together or be fully fitted.

Even so, I knew that our separating would have a terrible impact on everyone in our family, us too. Our thousands of wonderful memories would be blighted. Family events, (and there are many every year), would be less fulsome, less happy, less complete. The children may feel that they have to take sides.

Trish and I remember when our kids would come home from school and say that such-and-such brother's and sister's parents had split up and how hurt the children were; years later the hurt is still there with the now-young-adult brother and sister making their way in the world; and the parents too, their pain is still clearly present, even after they have "moved on".

Besides, there was so much promise in Trish and my meeting and marrying, surely this was not a false promise?

And there is God's Word:

"May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth" (Proverbs 5:18, see also Malachi 2:15).

"He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord" (Proverbs 18:22).

"In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself" (Ephesians 5:28).

My testimony continues: "I thought that I could take this on as a project for Jesus (and for my wife and me). What do Paul's words mean? What is the "love" he talks about? How and what will I need to change? What do I need to give up? And for how long?"

Both my friend's testimonies, and my own, tell that we learned that "love" is a doing word; love requires thought, humility, commitment and sacrifice, indeed everything we admire in Jesus points to how we should love our wife (Ephesians 5:25). Just as Jesus always prayed before He acted, we learned that prayer was an essential part of our "work" in re-growing our marriages. And, the relationships between men and women are not simply physical and emotional, they are also spiritual, we had to learn to give more fully from our spirit too.

Marriage was never primarily for the husband and wife, and it is not "all about love" (which implies that if we can no longer feel the love, the marriage is over). No, marriage is primarily for the children, so that they grow strong and loving and balanced in a healthy, stable environment, and also for our society, that it too is a stable, healthy environment. This is why, in every country, marriage has been made part of the civil law. Marriage is so important to every society that we protect and encourage it for the betterment of all.

I was intrigued to note that, in our Bibles, wives are not instructed to love their husbands. My researches show that this is because men and women are different. Men must make a conscious effort to take their focus off their work and other interests, and deliberately care for their wife, while women will respond to true, practical love with love! Women are instructed: "However .. the wife must respect her husband" (Ephesians 5:33). Observation shows me that unless we husbands earn that respect, I believe we are unlikely to receive very much at all.

When I set out to grow in loving Trish, one of the first things I learned was to bite my tongue, to be less free with my comments and criticisms of Trish and her ways (James 3:5, 1 Peter  3:10). This was hard. It still is. Over the years I had become like Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady", thinking "why can't a woman be more like a man?" Trish, like Eliza Doolittle, is not a man, praise Jesus, and, like all of us, was carefully hand-made by God our Father to be herself; and this I needed to learn again, how to treasure and respect her unique person and her woman-ness.

Another thing. These changes in me would not happen overnight. We three men learned that the necessary changes would be difficult and that we would have to call on our Christian training for guidance. Also we would have to break old habits and learn new ones (this I believe takes about 40 days, a timespan known to Jesus Himself): "train yourself to be godly .. godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come" (1 Timothy 4:7-8). I realised that loving my wife God's way would be costly, it would be me who would need to change so it would be costly to me.

In my career as a computer database specialist, I was involved in some important cutting-edge projects, I became a hot-shot and loved my work; but that was then. Now I no longer do paid work, my life is small and I have come to love that. I pray for the whole world, but day-to-day I live among my immediate family and a handful of small prayer groups. People with big lives seem to have all the big problems associated with the big things they are involved in; they may have too little time or energy for the truly big things in their lives, those things involving their relationships with family and the people close to them.

When we study God and the Cosmos, we see that God is most focused on relationships, firstly within the Godhead of Father, Son and Spirit and their eternal loving, sharing relationship, and then with us, His created people, the only creatures created in God's image and likeness (Genesis 1:26), and the only creatures with a spirit (Genesis 2:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:23), just like "God who is spirit" (John 4:24).

We can relate to God spirit to spirit. The whole Bible is about this special relationship between God and humankind (Matthew 22:37), a relationship where God's precious Son will marry a spotless bride (Ephesians 5:27), us Christians, and we will see and know His glory (Isaiah 60:2).

The Creation of physical things and all life was created on God's spoken word in six days. In the fullness of time this Creation will have served its purpose and "be rolled up like an old garment" (Hebrews 1:10), then God will bring forth "a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1). The Creation is vast to us and we all wonder at its beauty. Scientists have been studying it since the earliest days and still have many questions. The Creation is not a closed system. To God it is secondary to us people and our relationship with Him, including our marriages, these are all designed to last eternally. Hallelujah!

Trish’s and my marriage had sometimes lost some of its joy and flavour and vitality, but it did not so much need rescuing as reviving, happily it was far from dead.

We can find many lists of the most important elements of human life, none include "being divorced" or "being unhappy in marriage". Here is a list I made when reflecting on the past two or three years of our marriage:

• Listening
• Commitment
• Cleanliness
• Generosity
• Humility
• Contentment

"Listening" comes first, I think this was Trish's greatest unmet need from me, she is very relational (Trish is not strong with physics or numbers, while I am). People respond to her amazingly, (it was the same with my mother!) and she can make any plant grow and bloom! I needed simply to listen. I studied "active listening", it is a skill, easy to learn but quite hard to do.

"Commitment" speaks for itself .. I am often reminded that my greatest good will come from a great marriage, so, I am looking out for me, not just "us". Yes, I am committed!

"Cleanliness” may be obvious. I am not a dirty person but some of my untidy habits ("O, surely that pile of books is fine") really upset Trish who is a lovely homemaker, so I try to improve in those things .. inside and out, on myself and around about our household.

"Generosity" is something Jesus loves. I pray about giving and have learned to go beyond tithing and be free and relaxed about it, and now with myself towards Trish too.

"Humility" is a Jesus hallmark. He was the one who left His glorious life in Heaven to come and become a servant to all (Mark 9:12; Luke 9:22) and then die for us (Romans 5:8) and rise again (1 Corinthians 15:3-7). Besides, as Christians we are expected to "one another" one another, our wife is our best place to start: (Philippians 2:3-4; Matthew 22:35-40).

"Contentment" is lovely: we are told to "grow where you are planted" and "be grateful in all things". "Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Timothy 6:6), so true. Trish and I volunteer at "The Garden of Hope" where many of the people are recovering addicts, the amount of gratitude seen there is awesome and inspirational. I now have Jesus' peace (John 14:27) and am content .. I think that this is what the Bible calls "shalom".

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful" (Colossians 3:15).

So I have been working at all this for a good while now, it is not a burden and has mostly become second nature. Our marriage is really good. 

Trish and I, and our whole family, are facing some big challenges but we are facing them together with peace, joy and love in our hearts. 

Both Trish and I know and love Jesus, and we have one another truly and fully in our covenant marriage. Thank you Jesus. Hallelujah!

Simple But Poignant Quotes

"The greatest gift a father can give his children is to love their mother" - Theodore Hesburgh.

"And as ridiculous as it may sound, sometimes all any of us needs in life, is for someone to hold our hand and walk next to us" - James Frey.

Favourite Scripture Verses

"Keep looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant  or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends" (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life" (2 Peter 1:3).

"So encourage one another and help one another to grow stronger in faith, just as you are already doing" (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Thank you Jesus. Amen.

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New Covenant: Me?

I ask, am I a New Covenant person? There are many references in the New Testament which tell of how we are to "be" as Jesus' people; I try to appropriate these into myself and my life.

Many times I have encountered Jesus. More than once He has intervened and saved me from drowning or dying in a hospital. I have been in awe when He has hugged me. Countless times He has spoken to me. I have often seen Him smiling at me or have felt His hand on my shoulder, or a gentle punch on my arm - as guys do. Once I saw Him dancing, it was as though He was on a glass floor above us, dancing for joy as we all sung our hearts out to Him at a Christian camp in the hills near here.

 
I talk about Jesus all the time. Some people talk about "God" a lot. Not me, I talk about Jesus. I am Christian and believe that this name means that I am "of Christ", I also believe that He has made me of Himself. I am saved and am firmly in His family. I am continually being shaped and grown by Him, His Holy Spirit, and His Father, and will be until I die and go to live with Him in heaven (Ephesians 4:12-13; Philippians 1:6).
 
Everything I have experienced of Jesus completely lines up with what I see of Him, and of our triune God, in the Bible.
 
There came a time when I knew I needed to make a change in me. My spirit needed to wake up and be available to Jesus. It was not enough that I assented to the truth about Jesus and the Kingdom of God, my spirit had to assimilate into His Kingdom; I needed to become a more spiritually aware person and allow Jesus to form relationship with this new me. I had to know what Paul found: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). I had to learn to listen for what Jesus wanted to ask of me, and be ready to obey Him. Sometimes I think I am getting somewhere with all this ..
 
Now, despite the growing evil and chaos in the world, I know joy and am at peace.
 
Here are some New Covenant things Isaiah never heard God say:
 
• "Your sins are forgiven" (Matthew 9:2; Luke 7:48)

• "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20)
• "You are a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• "You are born again of God's Holy Spirit" (John 3:3-7)
• "You are my child" (John 1:12-13; 1 Peter 1:23; Galatians 4:7)
• "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19)
• "You are in the Father and in the Son Jesus" (John 17:20, 21)
• "I have set you free" (Galatians 5:1)
• "Abide in me" (John 15:)
• "Come to me all who are tired, hungry or thirsty" (Revelation 22:17)
• "You will worship me in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24)
• "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17) 
• "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18)
• "Make disciples .." (Matthew 28:19)
• "I give you authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction" (Matthew 10:1)
• "I give you power to destroy strongholds and every lofty thought raised against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
• "I am building a house for you in heaven" (John 14:2)
 
Not just Isaiah, Moses never heard these words, neither did Abraham, Noah, Esther, Ruth or David .. 

I see these verses and rejoice, I am so blessed that I was born for these times and am able to be with Jesus and to know Him. I now love Him deeply.
 
Psalm 40:2 has become true for me: "He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure".
 
Knowing God
We know God intimately through Jesus in whom "all the fullness of God dwells" (Colossians 2:9); this changes everything for us, and certainly for me.
 
Only a few Old Testament people ever heard God speak directly to them, mostly they understood Him as being distant, one who would speak through His prophets, priests and learned men, and only from time to time.
 
Israel knew that they were God's chosen people. They went to great efforts to obey God; they built the tent of meeting and followed Him 40 years in the wilderness. Later they built the temple (twice). Those physical things were central to their worship, and central to their participation in the necessary rites of belonging to God as a Jewish person.
 
My understanding is that all of our life is to be worship. When two or more Christians are together Jesus is with us. He is within each one of us, and somehow He is also in our midst, another lovely mystery.
 
 
Trish and I grew up going to church and doing church things but we did not become Christian (though we would have said that we were). Then Jesus made Himself known to us, each separately but around the same time. We met Him through committed, excited, active Christians for whom prayer, spiritual life, learning from the Bible and fellowship were vital parts of all our days and lives (Acts 2:42-47). We saw miracles. People were healed or circumstances changed in ways which cannot be explained by medicine or by the laws humankind know from science. We saw, and still see today, God’s hand working supernaturally in peoples’ lives.

My memory is that we saw that the New Covenant living described in the Bible is knowable today, and is quite unlike what I see in my church experiences.
 
Many years have passed. Trish and I moved our family from Karrinyup to Mumballup (in Southwest W.A.) and, over the years, attended four or five Collie churches and a house church in Donnybrook. Trish and my devotional life together, and the prayer meetings, stand out as being the centre of my Christian life over those years.
 
We found vital verses in our Bibles which many seem not to see as they read them. We grew. 

Paul's words came alive to me: "Because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake" (1 Thessalonians 1:5; see also 1 Corinthians 2:4; Luke 4:36).
 
Many Christians look at the world today and take comfort in the many Old Testament promises:
• "I will give you lands flowing with milk and honey" (Numbers 13:2)
• "One hundred of you will defeat ten thousand" (Leviticus 26:8)
• "All their riches will become yours" (Isaiah 60:5).
 
These are promises for physical prosperity. I believe that the New Covenant is mainly spiritual and involves God and His people in Jesus 24x7; the Old Covenant offers life within the Lordship of God but I see the Old Testament talking mainly in physical terms: God is known to be spiritual but He seems to come from outside and affect things in the world as He wills, from time to time.
 
(How did these Old Covenant promises work out for the Christians in the Soviet Union gulags? Or today in the Chinese political prisons, or in Iran, North Korea or the Sudan? Or my friends today in India? Those Christians’ joy can only be in Jesus (Romans 5:3-4; Nehemiah 8:10), not in physical safety, material influence, worldly successes or riches).
 
The New Testament has, for me, a strong emphasis on peace, health, joy and fellowship in Jesus; His shalom in our spirit and our soul. The "fruits of the Holy Spirit" (Galatians 5:22) are our spiritual, or inner, prosperity. I believe that this, when present in us, will flow out to our physical world (Acts 2:42-47). Scripture tells us that Jesus in us is visible to others and is beneficial to them:

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his belly [his or her very essence or centre] will flow rivers of living water'" (John 7:38);
 
"To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). 

And this, I believe, will bring us to being New Covenant people; nearness to Jesus, seeking to grow spiritually and in obedience. I also believe that Jesus wants us, each one, to share and participate in His work here on the earth, in our own time, today (Ephesians 2:10).
 
Amen.
 
Favourite Bible Verses
 
"The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).
 
"We have seen the glory of the Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
 
"The truth will set us free" (John 8:32).
 
"If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).
 
"And Samuel said, 'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams'" (1 Samuel 15:22).
 
"We can be confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
 
"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give" (Matthew 10:8).
 
"For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace" (John 1:16).
 
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:20-22).
 
"I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one" (2 Corinthians 13:14).
 
"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13).
 
"Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God" (1 John 3:1).
 
Hallelujah. Praise Jesus. Amen.
 
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